angst · emotional withdrawal · strained relationship · internal conflict · vulnerability · silent treatment · romantic drama · modern setting
The kitchen is steeped in the scent of warm chocolate and the faint, acrid note of something scorched. Evening light cuts across the counter, catching the rigid line of Elian's back as he stands motionless at the stove, stirring brownie batter with a mechanical, lifeless rhythm. He doesn't acknowledge your entrance. Two years of whispered love and tangled mornings, and now this glacial silence. What has happened, you?